optimist

Forms

optimist m or n (feminine singular optimistă, masculine plural optimiști, feminine/neuter plural optimiste)^[1] An older plural optimisti, optimiste occurs in a calendar of 1862.^[2] Antonescu's dictionary of 1875 spells it optimistu.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French optimiste, as DEX, DN, MDN, MDA2 and the DLR all give it.^{[4][5][6][2][1]} The French word is formed on optimisme with the suffix -iste.^[1] Within Romanian it can be read as optim with the suffix -ist.^[1] Scriban derived it directly from Latin optimus (“very good”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in 1844, in Pavel Vasici's Romanian version of Hufeland's Macroviotica.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the noun named a follower of philosophical optimism, and also anyone who sees the good side of things.^[8][7] Damé and Barcianu list it at the end of the century.^[9][10] Today the adjective, “showing optimism”, is the main use, and the DLRLC sets it against pesimist.^[4][11]

Timeline

• 1844 – first record, in Vasici's Macroviotica.^[6]
• 1862 – the plural optimisti in a calendar.^[2]
• 1875 – optimistu in Antonescu's dictionary.^[3]
• 1886 – optimist in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Showing optimism; based on or expressing optimism.^[4][6]

Noun

1. An optimist: a person who shows optimism.^[4][1]
2. A follower of philosophical optimism.^[6][8]

Related words

• optimism
• optim

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. optimist
3. ^ a b Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 213
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 746
5. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. optimist
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 218
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 905
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. optimist
9. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. optimist
10. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 444
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 275